Map and Counters

With 2010 Coming to an End, It is Time to look forward to 2011

“Map and Counters,” was launched — pretty much on a whim — in April of 2009, and thus far, over two hundred and eighty separate posts have been published on its pages. The steady growth, over time, in the numbers of new and repeat visitors — currently, the site averages about fifty-five hundred unique visits and well over 12,000 page views per month — has been both a tremendous source of encouragement and the main justification for my decision to continue with this effort going into 2011. That being said, I want to take the occasion of the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new, to thank all of you who have taken the time to visit “Map and Counters” and have stayed long enough to read my often overly long and sometimes frivolous musings. Your interest is deeply appreciated.

From its start, this blog has concentrated on presenting highly-detailed game profiles and operational analysis of traditional, out-of-print, board-style wargames. The reason for this focus on older titles is simple: there are already any number of excellent internet sources for timely game reviews, After Action Reports, and even in-depth profiles of recently published titles (e.g. boardgamegeek.com or consimworld.com, just to name two); for this reason, I have, with very few exceptions, preferred to avoid this (contemporary, state-of-the-art) area of hobby commentary. Instead, I have — with my many posts on out-of-print titles — endeavored to serve as an information resource both for long-time players and collectors, and also for those enthusiasts who have entered the hobby more recently, but who, for whatever reason, have developed an interest in these older games. That being said, my blog’s emphasis will not change dramatically in the coming year; however, there may be a few modest changes “around the margins,” so-to-speak. Moreover, as regular visitors to this blog already know: in addition to my usual run of game-related posts, this site also occasionally offers commentary on other subjects as diverse as movie and book reviews, our national Holidays, convention announcements and updates, and even a few posts to cover important (in my view, anyway) breaking hobby-related news. This basic format — like the primary emphasis of my blog — will not change appreciably with the advent of the New Year. On the other hand, whatever my own preferences, it also really matters what types of offerings you, my regular visitors, actually want to see featured in the coming year. And for that reason, I have listed a number of topics that I have either begun work on already, or that I am at least considering writing about in the coming year. If any of these or other game-related subjects is of particular interest, please let me know via the comments section of this post.

Possible Topics for Future Posts

• Yet more “game profiles” and/or “game analyses” of obscure, older, or less popular titles
• Articles on newer games, or on recently-introduced variants to existing titles (this would be new)
• A continuation of earlier essays on game-specific tips on play, such as a discussion of the AFRIKA KORPS “end game,” for example
• More posts on various aspects of TAHGC’s line up of classics, i.e., STALINGRAD, D-DAY, WATERLOO, etc.
• Additional lists of “game specific” articles from the General
• Reviews and/or analyses of more recent Desktop Published (DTP) games or variants (new)
• Additional reviews of movies (both old and new) with military or war-related themes
• Yet more reviews of books relating either to military history topics or, alternatively, to “Game Design”
• Guest posts (new)
• Other new and potentially interesting subjects not mentioned as part of this list

Any comments or suggestions about the preceding list or about the future direction of this Blog in the coming year are welcome. Hopefully, “Map and Counters” will continue to be a site worth visiting regularly in 2011. That, at least, is my sincere wish. The year that is now ringing to a close has, for a variety of reasons, been a difficult one; let us all hope that 2011, unlike its predecessor, will usher in better times for us all!